Monday, November 27, 2017

DOOR TO BALLOON Selected for First Flight Festival/NYC

My full-length play, Door to Balloon, was selected to be presented at 2018 First Flight New Play Festival, produced by Boomerang Theatre Company in New York City.

HECK YEAH.

I have worked with the good folks at Boomerang before and look forward to returning to their company to further explore this experimental, wild play. I am encouraged by the response this play continues to provoke, and super interested to continue learning from it.


Big thank yous to Boomerang for selecting this work and to all the excellent collaborators in Austin, Texas, and at the Last Frontier Theater Conference for the many gifts you have brought to me and this play.

I am grateful for the continued opportunities to improve the play, to engage deeply with people through that process, and to continue to learn through acts of creativity.

The full list of Finalists and more information about the project HERE.

much love,

ROMERO

Thursday, November 09, 2017

Rehearsing/Experimenting/Baking with the 787 Collective

On Thursday night, November 9, 2017, the 787 Collective will present a staged reading of 4 new plays by Austin playwrights Elizabeth Doss, Sarah Saltwick, Megan Tabaque, and me.

The presentation begins at 7:00 pm in the Hicks House at Austin Presbyterian Seminary.

The project is curated by Austin playwright Martha Lynn Coon as part of her community and congregation-building work through Austin Presbyterian Seminary. A kind of experiment, the event poses questions about how communities can engage in positive ways through acts of creativity.




For this event, Coon supplied a list of ingredients that each playwright had to "bake" into a 10-minute play.  The ingredients included:

Salt
Light
Water
Revelation
a Weather phenomenon
a character's experience of life in their 20s
and a choice of three compelling passages from Ecclesiastes

Each writer had a week to complete the play.

All four of the plays are highly theatrical, a little bit wild, and express some fun surprises.  I am in much admiration of my fellow writers on this project.

Each play was rehearsed for roughly an hour, and is being brought to life through the great work by actors Katie Bender, Cristina Flores, Patrick Hill II, and Megan Todd.

For more information, you can visit the event's Eventbrite posting, or visit the Seminary website.

ROMERO

Monday, September 11, 2017

FOXING Makes the Long List

In addition to producing 10 short plays a year, Pint-Sized Theatre in London, England, creates a "long list" of 100 writers whom they endorse and offer developmental support.  This year, my play Foxing made the long list.

Foxing was originally written for the Play in a Day project, produced by Cumberland County College in New Jersey.


Pint-Sized Theatre has an excellent mission, and I am encouraged by their interest, selecting my play to be among 100 of their favorites out of the 1,237 plays (!) that were sent to them for their consideration.  To describe their work, here are their own words:

"Pint-Sized is here for you, whoever you are. We're a new-writing company, dedicated to more representative theatre. That means supporting and creating opportunities for writers and directors of every background, and discovering the best in emerging talent."

As for the play itself, this is what's shakin':

A young couple, Aaron and Charlie, exhaust themselves through strange exercises and energetic dances, interrupting the unique relationship-counseling session led by a human who is also a fox. They drink water, do burpees, transform into wild animals, and unfold the pieces of paper the fox keeps handing them, confronting the most difficult conversation they keep trying to bury.

I look forward to my relationship with Pint-Sized Theatre and happy to be closer to my goal of having my writing produced in the United Kingdom.

Here is the full Long List and a nice message from the company.

Big thank yous to Pint-Sized, and continued thank yous to Deborah Bradshaw and Chris Totora, whose invitations to participate in Play in a Day continue to lead to further opportunities.  Thank you also to Kendall Lynch, who was a very awesome writing partner during this play's creation.

much love,

ROMERO

Friday, September 08, 2017

THREE and FOUR Play the One-Minute Play Festival

On August 29th and 30th, 2017, and despite Hurricane Harvey, I participated in Austin's 4th Annual One Minute Play Festival, creating and sharing two works: Three and Four.

As a "social barometer" experiment, The One-Minute Play Festival was full of fun observations of the present time and place.  As a large-scale community event, it was an excellent opportunity to work with old friends as well as meet new collaborators.


I am happy to have participated and grateful for the excellent work by directors Jess Shoemaker (who directed Four) and Patti Neff-Tiven (who directed Three).  Big thank yous to the ensemble of actors who bravely stepped into these two, strange, experimental works.

Thank you also to my friends who joined me in attendance, and congratulations to all the artists involved on a really engaging program.

Much love,

ROMERO

P.S.  Continued best wishes to everyone dealing with the destruction of Hurricane Harvey, and to those in the path of Hurricane Irma.  Take care of each other, everyone.

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

THE ELEPHANT AND THE LIGHT IN CLAIRE'S SUITCASE, Homer

The good news continues for my ten-minute play, The Elephant and the Light in Claire's Suitcase.  The play will be presented as a staged reading by Pier One Theatre in Homer, Alaska, as part of their program, "Highlights of the Last Frontier Theatre Conference".



This program runs from August 3-5, 2017, and features short works from writers who participated in this year's Conference.  I am very happy to continue relationships with the wonderful artists I met in Alaska this summer, and very happy to continue to share this play.

The readings will take place in Pier One's space "on the spit" in Homer, surrounded by the Kachemak Bay.  The Elephant and the Light in Claire's Suitcase will be read on August 5th.

Big thank yous to Kate Rich for organizing this event and for including Claire, Aldo/a, and Bruce.  Continued thanks to Deborah Bradshaw an Chris Totora for originally bringing this work to life through the Play in a Day project.


Tuesday, July 11, 2017

THE ELEPHANT AND THE LIGHT IN CLAIRE'S SUITCASE, Heideman Award Finalist

Inside the envelope from Actors Theatre of Louisville:

"We're delighted to inform you that your play, The Elephant and the Light in Claire's Suitcase, has been selected as one of 60 finalists for the 2017 Heideman Award."

HELL YEAH!

From memory, I believe ATL receives at least 500-600 entries a year for this award, so this is quite an honor already.

The Heideman Award winner will be announced in February 2018, and all finalists' scripts will be considered for production opportunities during ATL's 2017-2018 Season.

The Victor Jory Theatre, inside of Actors Theatre of Louisville.

If this play is selected for production, that will be awesome.  And it will be the first time one of my plays is presented in ATL since that time we did my play in their bathrooms (remember that, Rand Harmon and Specific Gravity Ensemble?).

Huge thank yous, again, to Chris Totora, Deborah Bradshaw, and the Play in a Day project that instigated this play.

much love on this exciting day,

ROMERO

Thursday, July 06, 2017

PLASTIC THINGS, Anchorage

I am so happy that the journey continues for Of Plastic Things and Butterfly Wings.  My all-ages play will live in production, once again, this time presented by a group of young performers in Alaska.


The production will be part of TBA Theatre's (Anchorage, Alaska) summer programming, and will be worked on by students, ages 8 - 18, as part of the "Actor's Academy".

Performances will take place at TBA's outdoor amphitheater from July 28 - 30, 2017.  I am so excited to think about this play, expressed through the excellent imaginations of young performers, surrounded by the mountains of the Last Frontier.

Big thank yous to Shane Mitchell for his interest in this play, to Alexis Jade Colon (who is directing), and to the awesome students who are bringing Sam the Plastic Water Bottle, Reginald the Blue Crab, Billie the Parrot, The Oldest Sea Turtle Who Ever Lived, and all the other fun characters to life. 

Big thanks as well to the Last Frontier Theater Conference for creating the possibility for this relationship. 

(My love for Alaska grows).

Thank yous also to YouthPLAYS for publishing the play and for its help with licensing this production.

And continued thanks to Chris Totora, Josh Totora, and Little Fish Theatre for originally commissioning me to write this work 5 years ago; to Cara Blouin and the awesome Drexel University students who helped me create it; to the wonderful actors and creative team of the original production.  I never imagined this work would have such a long and adventurous life, and I am so grateful for it.


Much love,

ROMERO

Monday, July 03, 2017

THE ELEPHANT AND THE LIGHT IN CLAIRE'S SUITCASE in New York

From June 14-18, 2017, my 10-minute play, The Elephant and the Light in Claire's Suitcase, was presented in full production as part of Stay Awake! Theatre's Prism Festival.

The performances were at The Bridge Theatre in Shetler Studios, in Manhattan, New York City.


Big thank yous to Maryanne Olson, Jeanne-Marie Brown, and the good folks of Stay Awake! for selecting this script (out of roughly 300 open submissions) and for all the care they put into exploring and presenting it.


Continued thank yous to Deborah Bradshaw and Chris Totora, who originally invited me to write this play as part of the Play in a Day project at Cumberland County College in 2016.


Much love,

ROMERO

Friday, June 30, 2017

DOOR TO BALLOON/The Last Frontier Theater Conference in Alaska

I recently returned from Valdez, Alaska, where my play, Door to Balloon, was presented at The Last Frontier Theater Conference.

The experience was easily one of the most enjoyable, most fruitful ones of my life and I feel so grateful for having had the opportunity to participate, to explore and share my work, to meet so many excellent people, and to get a taste of Alaska.


It was very hard to leave and I hope, very much, to return.

Big thank yous to all the people-- and there are so many-- who made this possible.

much love,

ROMERO


Wednesday, January 25, 2017

THE SHADES OF ORCUS

On February 4th, 2017, I will be performing in a workshop presentation/staged reading of the new play The Shades of Orcus by Missoula theatre artist Joshua Kelly.  The performance is at 7:00 pm at The Public House in downtown Missoula.






I am playing Thomas Warren, an art critic who has made himself infamous for his major work—a collection of reviews detailing the art, beauty, and performative nature of suicides.  So yes, this play is kind of dark.

The play is asking some fascinating questions and I look forward to stepping inside of these worlds and exploring them with some very smart, talented people.



Big thank yous to playwright Joshua Kelly and director Thaine Bertin for including me in this process.

much love,


ROMERO

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Thank You to Cone Man Running

Big thank yous to Cone Man Running Productions in Houston, Texas, for their inclusion of my short play, Goodb(eye), as part of their very fun 5 Minute-Mile project during November of 2016.

As they describe:

"32 plays are selected for the production.  Eight are scheduled to perform each night.  The next six are drawn at random at the start of the show.  The last six are voted on by the audience based on the title, descriptions and the actors involved!  It’s a different line up every single night!"

Whitney Zangarine (Madeleine) and Bryan Maynard (John) in Goodb(eye); Houston TX.


My own play was concisely described as:  "A man and woman, a secret romance, static electricity passes through the phone wires, as a giant eye inexplicably hovers over the city."

I was very happy to have my work included in this project, and grateful for the extra effort Cone Man Running made to send me a video of the play, taken during the final dress rehearsal:





My thanks to Bryan Maynard and Whitney Zangarine for their performances, and to Michael Weems for organizing the project.

Thank you also to Brad McEntire and Audacity Theatre Lab for originally commissioning me to create this work for their Eye in the Sky project (originally featuring actors Lydia Mackay and Jeffrey Schmidt), which began way back in 2009.

much love,

ROMERO